Scam Busters: The Quiznos "Free Sub" Coupon

Earlier this week, MainStreet caught wind of a new Quiznos coupon redeemable for one free sub at all their restaurants. In the interest of further expanding the scope of our Free Stuff department, we posted a link to the coupon, along with the pertinent details. I then printed one out and made haste to the closest Quiznos to sample the goods.

As conventional wisdom claims, there is no such thing as a free lunch. The Quiznos closest to MainStreet’s global headquarters in Manhattan had a sign on their door claiming customers were only permitted to redeem free sub coupons between the off-peak dining hours of 3 to 5 p.m. Not exactly an ideal situation for a hungry and frugal customer, especially given the coupon’s lack of specific details.
I wasn’t the only one disappointed.  Consumerist.com documented a number of frustrated sub-seekers:

• John from Rockville, Md., told a tale of a rude cashier who inexplicably claimed the coupon was only redeemable for $1 off the regular purchase price.
• Others, including Evan B., explained that they were forced to purchase a bag of chips and a drink in order to get their free sub.
• Frank had reservations about allowing a store employee to write down and save his driver’s license number after checking his ID with the coupon.
• Jay of Palm Desert, Calif., had one of the strangest ordeals when he encountered a sign posted on the counter’s sneeze guard reading, “We do not except coupon in this store (sic).”

More and more anecdotes of outrage began to emerge across the country about local Quiznos restaurants rudely refusing to honor the free sandwich coupon. There appears to be some miscommunication between the Quiznos marketing department responsible for the campaign and the franchise owners manning the registers and interacting with customers.

When an individual store manager’s policy differs from the official Quiznos advertising line, questions arise as to whether the entire promotion was a traffic-driving ploy. An every man for himself approach to fast food giveaways probably doesn’t translate to a positive image from your customers.

Coincidentally, Quiznos CEO Dave Deno officially resigned from his position for personal reasons one day into the Million Sub Giveaway promotion. Additionally, Advertising Age magazine reported earlier this month that Quiznos will not be extending its contract with advertising agency Cliff Freeman & Partners. Perhaps these shakeups at the top of the Quiznos corporate empire are to blame for the botched promotion?